People like to live near the coast. 38% of the world's population
lives within 100 km of the coast. Small and Cohen (2004).

It was
estimated that in 2003, approximately 153 million
people (53 percent of the nation’s population) lived in the
673 U.S. coastal counties, an increase of 33 million
people since 1980... Coastal counties constitute only 17 percent
of the total
land area of the United States (not including Alaska), but
account for 53 percent of the total population. 23 of the 25 most
densely populated U.S. counties are coastal.
Population Trends Along
the Coastal United States:
1980-2008 (Crossett, 2004).

Many people like to go to the beach for recreation and relaxing.
$8 to $10 billion is generated each year in the U.S. by coastal activities
such as canoeing and kayaking, bird watching, swimming, sport fishing,
and tourism.

Coastal areas are also subject to major population
influxes during peak vacation periods. Ocean City, MD,
for example, had almost 4 million seasonal visitors
between the Memorial Day and Labor Day holidays in
2003.
Population Trends Along
the Coastal United States:
1980-2008 (Crossett, 2004).

Coastal areas are a physical buffer protecting communities near the
coast from storm surges and flooding.

Most of the important oceanic fisheries are on the continental shelf
close to the coast.

Most of the oil and gas taken from the sea floor comes from the continental
shelf and slope.

Estuaries are the nursery for many fish and shellfish, and they are
home for much wildlife.

75% of commercially harvested fish and shell fish depend on estuaries
and nearby coastal waters for some part of their life cycle.

The Chesapeake Bay supports more than 3,000 migratory and resident
species of wildlife.

Puget Sound supports 220 species of fish, 100 species of shore
and sea birds, and 26 species of marine mammals.

Galveston Bay supports more than 162 species of fish.

Let me say again: The Laguna Madre, and places like it throughout the
world are natural fish hatcheries for our oceans. Fish come into these
areas to spawn, then return to the Gulf.
Grigar (1997) page 92.

Pollution Defined

The word pollution comes
from the verb pollute,
which means to make unpure. Thus pollution is:

The action of polluting,
or condition of being polluted; defilement; uncleanness or impurity
caused by contamination (physical or moral). spec. The presence in
the environment, or the introduction into it, of products of human
activity which have harmful or objectionable effects.From
the Oxford English Dictionary.

Notice that pollution is the product of human activity.

Coastal Waters are in Trouble

Pollution in coastal waters is bad in many areas, it is getting worse,
and more and more areas are affected. According to A National Strategy
to Restore Coastal and Estuarine Habitat:

95% of San Francisco Bay's original wetlands have been destroyed.

85% of Galveston Bay's sea grass meadows are gone.

More than 30% of Connecticut's coastal wetlands have been lost.

25 square miles of coastal Louisiana wetlands disappear each year.

Oyster harvests in Chesapeake Bay plummeted from 25 million pounds
to one million pounds in just 30 years.

The number of wild salmon returning to Maine's rivers has dropped
80% in the last ten years.

There are Many Types of Coastal Pollution.

Bacteria and viruses (pathogens).

Oxygen-depleting substances such as sewage, other carbon-based waste,
and dissolved carbon-based material,

Polychlorinated biphenyls are mixtures
of up to 209 individual chlorinated compounds (known as congeners).
There are no known natural sources of PCBs. PCBs are either oily
liquids or solids that are colorless to light yellow. Some PCBs
can exist as a vapor in air. PCBs have no known smell or taste.
Many commercial PCB mixtures are known in the U.S. by the trade
name Aroclor.

PCBs have
been used as coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors,
and other electrical equipment because they don't burn easily and
are good insulators. The manufacture of PCBs was stopped in the
U.S. in 1977 because of evidence they build up in the environment
and can cause harmful health effects. Products made before 1977
that may contain PCBs include old fluorescent lighting fixtures
and electrical devices containing PCB capacitors, and old microscope
and hydraulic oils.
From U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry ToxFAQs.

Toxic carbon-based compounds (herbicides, pesticides),

Nutrients (nitrates, phosphates),

Hot water discharge from power plants,

Alien species, such as the European Green Crab and
the aquatic weed Carcinus maenas on
the US west coast.

Litter. There are three types:

Monofilament fishing line, fishing nets, and tackle.

Abandoned fishing boats, docks, and structures.

Small objects, including plastic rings used to hold 6-packs
of cold drinks, cigarette butts, and tires.

Noise, especially noise that
interferes with marine mammals and other animals communications and
hearing.

The ocean environment has always included
an abundance of natural noises, such as the sounds generated by rain,
waves, earthquakes, and sea creatures. However, a growing number of
ships and oil rigs, as well as increased use of sonar by navies and
researchers, is adding to the natural noise that already surrounds
marine life. Although noise in the sea has increased steadily since
the Industrial Revolution, there is little information on exactly how
noisy it has become or how marine mammals in particular react to the
noise. Nevertheless, recent episodes in which dolphins and whales have
beached themselves while human-generated sounds were being deployed
nearby have raised questions about the impact of ocean noise.
From National Academy of Sciences Report on Ocean
Noise and Marine Mammals

Top Seven Pollutants

Pollution has many consequences.

It may be concentrated to
dangerous levels by marine animals such as shellfish. Eating polluted
shellfish can cause serious illness (see Harmful
Algal Blooms). Animals
at the top of the food chain, such as tuna, have the greatest concentrations
of some pollutants such as mercury. Note it is the concentration of
the pollutant that is important, not the total amount in the animal.
Phytoplankton have small concentrations, predators can have much higher
concentrations.

The increase in concentration of pollutants is called bio-magnification or bio-accumulation.

Mercury concentrations in parts per trillion increase as the trophic
level of aquatic animals increases in south Florida, an region with high
levels of mercury pollution. From US Geological Survey: South
Florida Restoration Science Forum.

Dangerous species may become common, causing health problems, and
interfering with tourism and fisheries. A few years
ago, a new organism was found in some estuaries along the east coast: Pfiesteria
piscicida. It killed fish. It seemed to cause sores and
memory loss in people who handled the dead fish. Where do these
organisms come from? For more see the Pfiesteria web
site.

It may kill marine life, e.g. birds caught in plastic
rings used to hold 6-packs of cold drinks.

Large quantities of nutrients and carbon-based waste leads to plankton
blooms. When the plants die, they sink to the bottom, decay, and reduce
the oxygen in deeper waters, e.g. the Gulf
of Mexico Hypoxia (dead) Zone caused by Mississippi
River runoff.